‘Tanked’ cast crafts snow globe aquarium for Henderson’s WinterFest
For its 60th annual WinterFest, the city of Henderson decided to add something special to the four-day event by contacting Wayde King and Brett Raymer of Animal Planet’s “Tanked” to create an exhibit.
WinterFest is scheduled from Dec. 12-14 at the Henderson Events Plaza, 200 S. Water St.
The event transforms the Water Street District into an old-fashioned Christmas with activities and decorations.
‘TANKED’ STARS GET IN ON THE ACTION
This year decorations are set to include a giant snow globe fish tank designed by the stars of “Tanked.”
“Tanked,” which is based in Las Vegas, follows two brothers-in-law who manufacture large aquarium tanks.
They have done fish tanks for other holidays such as Halloween. The team is excited to try its hand at a Christmas tank.
Raymer said they jumped at the idea when the city reached out to them.
“We love catering to locals,” he said. “We invite people to our facility to witness filming or take a tour.”
King and Raymer met with the city of Henderson staff about a month ago.
“We started brainstorming to see what we could do,” King said.
The idea they came up with was to turn a 300-gallon fish tank into a giant snow globe. It took the team nearly three weeks to create it.
They originally wanted to make the interior of the tank snow like a snow globe, a task that turned out to be more difficult than they expected.
Instead, King said the fish will represent snow.
“You got to think on your feet at the drop of a dime,” King said.
Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen and other city staffers already had a sneak peak of the tank, which had to be set up for filming purposes.
“They loved it,” King said. “It’s one thing when you see the idea on paper. Seeing it in person, they couldn’t believe how wonderful it turned out.”
The team plans to refill the tank for WinterFest.
The tank is also scheduled to appear on the Discovery Channel Dec. 12 and on an episode of “Tanked” Dec. 20.
“We are excited for that episode,” King said. “We did two Christmas tanks. The other one is in Georgia.”
King wasn’t sure what will happen to the tank after WinterFest. But in the meantime, people can enjoy the exhibit at the Henderson Convention Center, 200 S. Water St.
WINTERFEST FUN
The Henderson Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to kick off WinterFest at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Henderson Convention Center. The event also includes other attractions such as a tree-lighting ceremony with the mayor, horse-drawn carriage rides, gingerbread house displays, children’s activities and entertainment.
Santa is slated to arrive for the tree lighting at 6 p.m. Dec. 13.
Activities are planned from 12:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 15.
A parade is scheduled for 5 p.m. Dec. 15. The route is set to take light-covered floats along Water Street from Ocean Avenue to Victory Road.
PARADE IS FAMILY-FRIENDLY
Growing up in Henderson, Tiecha Ashcroft, who is designing one of the floats, has been attending WinterFest and the parade for as long as she can remember.
Three years ago, her family decided to implement a new tradition of entering the parade.
The first year, under the theme of an old-fashioned Christmas, the family created a ’70s-themed float, which won second place.
“We weren’t expecting to win,” she said.
The family donated its winnings.
Even though the family didn’t win the second year, it enjoyed participating nonetheless.
After the parade, Ashcroft said the family loads up the float at least one more time to sing carols around the neighborhood.
“We plan on doing it every year,” she said. “My eldest daughter was excited to get started on it.”
The adults have more fun constructing the float while the children have more fun riding it on parade night, she added.
Keeping with tradition, the family is back working on another float.
“It’s a secret,” she said. “It’s going to be good.”
For more information and a complete schedule, visit hendersonlive.com.
Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.
